Croatia FLNG Terminal Completion Delayed 12 Months

Croatia's floating liquefied natural gas terminal in the northern Adriatic will take a year longer to complete, Energy and Environment Minister Slaven Dobrovic told an energy conference on Wednesday.

The capacity of the terminal, now expected to be finished in 2019, is seen at around two billion cubic metres of gas a year, with Croatia targeting central European markets as well as domestic.

"Our current plan is to realise the project in 2019," Dobrovic said without elaborating further. Croatia had aimed to finish the project in 2018.

The terminal, to be built on the northern Adriatic island of Krk, is among projects the European Union sees as important to its efforts to enhance energy security and reduce dependence on Russian gas.

Croatia had originally aimed to construct a land-based terminal with three times higher capacity than the floating one, but such plans were now left for a later stage depending on future gas demand in the future.

Reporting by Igor Ilic